The Law on Viruses and Deception Webinar

Should public health issues give rise to criminal responsibility?

Discussing the recent case of Lawrance on deception in relation to HIV in sexual offences, the decision in Rowe and how it affects the decriminalisation of HIV and the implications for transmission of COVID-19, we consider how public health issues need not give rise to criminal responsibility.

Presented by Professor Felicity Gerry QC and Professor Matthew Weait FAcSS – Felicity defended the first prosecution for intentional transmission of HIV and has long experience of appearing in cases involving serious sexual offences. She is co-author of The Sexual Offences Handbook (3rd Ed forthcoming) and in 2020 she published two reference guides on the COVID-19 pandemic legislation in both England and Australia.

Matthew is an internationally recognised expert on HIV and the law and was a Technical Advisor to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2012). He is the author of Intimacy and Responsibility: the Criminalisation of HIV Transmission (Routledge, 2007), and numerous articles on this topic.

You can find the webinar here or watch it below.

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